Enigma's Shadow
by InweTiwele
Summary: NarutoHPXover Deidara was stuck in a castle with a senile old man, a bunch of whiny brats, and was probably going to be turned into a hitokugutsu by Sasori when he got back. Man, life sucked right about then.
1. Prologue

A/N: Okay, I really really need to stop writing new stories otherwise I'm going to get swamped but I had to get this idea out of my head, seriously. This is a need to know thing: this story takes place after the Rescue Gaara arc...story line...thing, Sasori is still alive because I hate Tobi, and Deidara still has his other arm. I am also not including any of the other Naruto characters but those in Akatsuki because I think that not very many focus on them. Also, this is idea was inspired by a fanfiction that I cannot recall at the moment but I know that it's my favorites. One more thing, this is a Harry Potter crossover because I think the Akatsuki members aren't given much interaction between the HP cast in other fics.

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or HP.

Prologue:

_"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences_

_attending to much liberty than to those attending to small_

_a degree of it."_

-THOMAS JEFFERSON (1743 – 1826), _to Archibald Stuart, 1791_

A blonde haired man stared blankly at the fire in the middle of a small camp. He was dressed in black pants with a simple black shirt with fish net over it. Over his other clothing he wore a black trench coat decorated with red clouds. His greenish eyes looked almost bored, the madness that resided with the man's twisted personality glinting devilishly in the back of his eyes. At first glance it would have been hard to decipher the gender of the man sitting there, his all too feminine appearance would have caused confusion for many people in a short amount of time if he didn't open his mouth to say something.

Across from his sat another man with an impassive look on his face, a look completely devoid of emotion. His hair was red and his eyes were hazel colored and he was clothed in the same type of clothing as his blonde haired companion.

The fire crackled and the blonde haired man began to twitch slightly with restlessness. With an unchanging expression, his companion looked at him impassively. He knew very well that keeping his companion in one spot for too long a period of time was like trying to keep a dog with a one track mind away from it's favorite toy.

_"Deidara,"_ the man said looking at him with a slightly reproving look, _"don't think about leaving on the spur of the movement just because you're restless. If you do, I'll chop off your hands and turn you into a hitokugutsu."_

The man called Deidara gave him a cheeky smile. To anyone that had been eavesdropping it would have sounded as if his companion was telling the truth. However, Deidara knew that his companion would never do that to him anyway.

_"Ne, Sasori-danna,"_ Deidara said grinning, _"why would I do that, un?"_ That happy grin irritated Sasori _to no end._ He did not understand how Deidara could be so… _joyful_ all of the time. The puppet master from Sunagakure doubted that any other members of the Akatsuki were as content as Deidara could be. Sometimes he really wondered if Hidan saying cruel things about shinobi from Iwa got to Deidara, but he could never tell.

"Will you ever stop smiling?" Sasori asked, irritation dripping into his usually monotone voice. Deidara just smiled at him again, moving around like an insane bird about to fly out of its cage to cause all sorts of mischief. Sasori seriously considered getting a leash for his teammate.

Deidara sighed all of a sudden. He stood and stretched. Silently he looked around and grinned. They were on the outskirts of a quaint village and he had found it entertaining and utterly bizarre at the same time. The nuke nin from Iwa was itching to explore the surrounding area some more, but they were under specific orders from their Leader to not show themselves under any circumstances.

He hadn't explained much, just that the people they were dealing with were not ordinary run-of-the-mill non-shinobi going about their daily lives. When Sasori heard the request of spying and learning about them he silently cursed the man he held with much respect because he had a very dark premonition in the back of his mind telling him that Deidara was going to pull something stupid. He really should look into buying that leash. Now that he saw his partner looking as if he wanted to do some late night exploring with the possibility of being seen, he wasn't exactly the most inconspicuous member but he wasn't Zetsu for crying out loud, Sasori knew that this would only lead to more trouble. More trouble that they did _not_ need under these circumstances.

"Deidara, you better not be thinking about what I'm thinking you're about to do," Sasori told him calmly, a small hint of warning in his voice. His fellow shinobi gave him an innocent look. A small mischievous smile etched it's way across Deidara's _extraordinarily_ feminine features.

"Sasori-danna, I'll be back before dawn, un," Deidara said, a small hint of pleading in his voice. With a hint of satisfaction, Deidara watched his partner give a small sigh of consent. He glanced at him with a hint of a rather murderous glare that would have fazed anyone other than Deidara…and a certain murderous Uchiha.

"Fine, Deidara," Sasori relented, knowing he would probably regret it later. "Just don't be spotted by the villagers. If you do, I'll be sure to mention it to Rei-sama."

Deidara gave him an unfathomable look before he melted out of the firelight into the darkness. Sasori felt a little twinge of foreboding in his puppet heart. Silently, he did something he would never admit to doing and probably never do again in his life. He silently prayed to the Gods and Fate that they would keep his partner safe. After all, to Sasori and the other members, Deidara was just a kid; a very strange, eccentric, and annoying kid with a propensity to make things explode.

* * *

Deidara was bursting with excitement as he jumped nimbly from rooftop to rooftop using shunshin. The body flicker technique would allow Deidara to remain unseen and move faster through the village. Although, there was a small, annoying buzz in the back of his mind as he moved through the village warning him that he shouldn't have left Sasori.

Silently he stopped on one of the many slanted rooftops in the quaint village and pushed the lock of hair away from the scope covering his left eye and focused the lens on the distorted chakra he was sensing. It was a very small amount of chakra, but none the less, it was annoying. If it was something interesting, then he would report it to Sasori-danna. Then he wouldn't nag at him about his late night explorations or his vanishing acts if he returned with some interesting information. Sometimes he wondered if his danna would actually care if he returned with valuable information.

Deidara's grin faded as his tracker focused in on the source of the chakra. It was the body of a person sitting in one of the multiple alleyways. The person appeared to be dead. With the tracker over his eye the image was enhanced and he could see there was no sign of any movement. However, a cadaver did not give off a chakra signature which added suspicion to the entire situation. His frowned deepened.

His lock of hair fell back into place over his eye as he stared at the alleyway the chakra signature was coming from. Deidara's judgment told him to send for his danna because this entire situation was riddled with misgivings. Both Sasori and Deidara had noticed that the villagers had been giving furtive glances over their shoulders whenever they left their homes or a shop. The atmosphere was thick with apprehension and it was obvious that a war was about to break wide open.

Deidara used shunshin and vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared above the human cadaver. He was suspicious and did not want to get close to the body. Although, now he was certain that whoever this person had been was now dead. Jumping down from the rooftop, Deidara looked at the cadaver, greenish eyes narrowed.

The chakra signature was still there and cautiously Deidara reached out a hand to touch the body. His hand twitched slightly and his fingers gently touched the man's jugular vein. What happened next, caught Deidara off guard as the cold hand of the corpse reached out and gripped tightly onto Deidara's left wrist. His eyes widened in shock as the head raised. There was a sickening crack as Deidara's wrist was broken.

His eyes wide Deidara was thrown by the dead man into the wall a bright flash of pain blinding him. He knew then that he was in trouble being under orders to not draw attention to either of them. Silently, he felt a feeling that he was not going to be able to return to Sasori by the time he had specified. _'Sasori-danna is going to kill me now…'_


	2. Chapter 1

_"..."_ talking in Japanese

"..." talking in English

thoughts in both Japanese and English

A/N: Okay, so if you're reading this you've obviously found this interesting so I'm going to spare you the pain of my rambling. Anyways, review please! Yeah...so whatever and I don't accept flames. If you also have any questions review with them in there and I shall answer in my author's notes. Okay, bye now. R&R dammit.

Chapter 1:

"_Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice._

_It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."_

-WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN (1860 – 1925)

Deidara staggered away from bloody mass of…something on the green grass in the shadow of a castle. It had previously been several corpses that had been in Hogsmeade. He looked at the night sky and saw a hint of pink and orange on the horizon. Sasori was definitely going to be angry with him.

There were severally scratches on his hitai-ate making it practically indecipherable now, his hair was out of it's customary ponytail, his appearance was disheveled, and he was bleeding profusely. Staggering a few more paces away Deidara collapsed in a heap on the ground, blood pooling onto the grass beneath him. He coughed and blood came out of his mouth, staining locks of his golden hair crimson.

Deidara's mind was telling him that he probably had several broken ribs, a broken wrist, internal bleeding, head trauma, and various wounds from the villagers that had attacked him as if they had gone out of their minds. He was pretty sure that they had. Now he was lying on the grass bleeding to death as dawn began to creep up on him as if it was cruelly laughing at him.

Everything began to grow blurry and Deidara felt his life slowly bleeding out of him. He coughed again as his eyes began to close, consciousness leaving him. Deidara doubted that he would wake up soon or if he would wake up at all.

* * *

A giant of a man walked with long strides towards the castle that morning several hours after dawn. Today was going to be a good day besides the fact that he would not be seeing his favorite three students. The half-giant stopped in shock as he stared at the ground. There was a strange crimson liquid mass on the ground in front of him. Leading away from the bloody mass of whatever was a mass of black, red, and yellow. His face turned to the other in utter disbelief as he stared at the mass realizing that it was a person.

He rushed over to see if the person was alright and realized that he was probably dead. That was until he heard a rattling breath that was followed by a horrifying cough that left a copious amount of blood onto the wounded person's hair and onto the green grass.

"'Ey, ar' ye alright?" asked the giant as he touched the person gently. He looked at the person's face and scrunched his whiskery face into confusion. The giant was not able to tell if the victim was a man or a woman. Although, he was able to tell that the injured person was in fact a man after a few moments, a very feminine looking one at that.

The man named Hagrid stared at the still form of the young man for a few moments. He couldn't leave him there. Students would find him and he would probably die in a few hours or minutes if he was left to die. That would not look good. Besides, someone could be looking for him.

Hagrid pulled off his moleskin overcoat and laid it on the other side of the man away from as much of the blood as he could. As gently as he could, Hagrid lifted the man off of the ground and onto the overcoat. He didn't want so many students to witness so much blood. What sort of impression would that leave on the students? Parents would be furious.

The giant's face clouded with worry as a raspy gasp escaped the young man. He was sure that it would have been a shriek of pain, a very loud shriek of pain. Hagrid gingerly wrapped the man in his overcoat and carefully picked him up. The man let out another raspy gasp that was followed by a low moan of pain as his head fell back, his long hair sticking to his face with crimson blood. Whatever happened to him was serious and Hagrid was suspicious.

He turned and rushed towards the castle with the young man in his arms. Golden hair turned crimson fluttered as his shallow breath touched it. Hagrid entered the castle and headed towards the Great Hall where practically every student was eating breakfast. Hopefully they wouldn't lose their breakfast when he came in.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table when students started screaming in panic as Hagrid came running through the crowd towards the staff table. A person was wrapped up in his overcoat and the oversized jacket was stained with blood.

Their forks clattered to the table in shock as the hall fell silent. Hermione's face had gone pale and Ron looked as though he was about to lose his breakfast. Harry couldn't really do anything other than stare at the person in Hagrid's burly arms in shock. Hagrid reached the rest of the teachers. Professor Snape said something before Hagrid could explain what had happened.

"Hagrid, what is going on here?" he asked in a dangerous voice. The half-giant stared at him with incredulity. A young man of about eighteen years old at most was bleeding to death and all he could think of saying was asking what was going on? He never had like Snape. Ignoring the Potions Master turned Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Hagrid turned to the Headmaster who had risen to his feet.

"Professor Dumbledore, I jus' found him outside this mornin' on my way here," Hagrid told him hurriedly, Dumbledore was staring at the face of the man that was barely breathing. "If we don' get him medical attention, sir, he'll die."

Dumbledore stared at the man and then at Hagrid. He agreed with Hagrid as he saw him cough violently and then let out a rattling breath. "Madame Pomfrey."

Madame Pomfrey stood and led the way towards the Hospital Wing closely followed by Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall. There was silence as the teachers exited and then the Great Hall erupted into noise.

* * *

Sasori stared at the charred wood that had previously been aflame. Deidara had pulled another of miraculous vanishing act for the umpteenth time. Again, he cursed himself for not buying that leash when he had the chance. The next village he was in, he was buying one. Although, something was telling him that all was not well with his partner.

Usually Deidara was true to his word and came back at the time that he had specified. Although, sometimes he wouldn't even bother mentioning when he was coming back. Sasori would give him one more day to see if he would come back. If not, then he was contacting the other Akatsuki members.

They all knew about Deidara's habit of disappearing for days at a time and none of them had ever been successful at following him. The kid was excellent at covering his tracks. Undoubtedly that was what had helped him stay alive for so long besides his skills as a shinobi.

That was another cause for concern for Sasori. A shinobi like Deidara was not the type of person to be injured, or worse killed, very easily. He did have a propensity to follow Rei-sama's orders perfectly so he wouldn't screw up. Sasori had no clue why he did it, but if his partner was attacked then he wouldn't have fought back in order to avoid attention. He would have started fighting once he was away from the village, that was if he was and Deidara was not the best at hand to hand combat though he had improved in that area.

_"Damn you, Deidara,"_ Sasori growled cursing Fate for making worry so much over his partner for no particular reason. Although, the nuke nin could not shake the feeling that something was truly wrong.

* * *

Madame Pomfrey had never seen injuries as extensive as the ones inflicted on the young man in the infirmary. He had nearly died five minutes ago when he stopped breathing and she had used all of her medical knowledge in keeping him alive. The teachers were talking in hushed voices in the Hospital Wing waiting for her to finish her work. Luckily for the boy she had some knowledge of muggle medicine and instead of healing his broken bones on the spot she had decided to allow him to heal slower. That way, if he was on Voldemort's side he wouldn't be able to do anything until he was completely healed. The only think the healer had healed completely were his internal wounds that would have killed him had she not fixed them immediately.

She finished wrapping some bandages around his head and silently prayed that the boy would wake up. There was no doubt in her mind that he had a concussion. Madame Pomfrey turned back to the teachers with a heavy sigh as she wiped her bloody hands clean.

The teachers looked at her, their faces bursting with questions. "I don't know if he'll live," Madame Pomfrey announced. "He's lost too much blood and was subjected to some of the worst kinds of injuries that I've ever seen."

Several of the teacher's curious faces turned to ones of shock except for the Headmaster who wore a calm expression. "Poppy, could you tell us what sort of injuries he has?"

Poppy nodded her consent and her face turned to one of troubled concern. "He has several broken ribs, a broken wrist, a severe concussion, and various stab wounds," Madame Pomfrey said as calmly as she could. "He did have a perforated lung and a great deal of hemorrhage from blunt force trauma. I'd say he was beaten with various heavy and blunt objects. Regarding his concussion, he doesn't have a high probability of waking up."

Minerva McGonagall looked at the young man's face. She pitied the poor boy laying there in a state of a coma. His face was etched in pain and it didn't look as though he was going to wake up any time soon as Poppy had confirmed. Dumbledore's voice pulled her out of her musings. "I'd like to see that metal plate he was wearing along with those weapons that you found on his person," he said. Madame Pomfrey grabbed the pouches that had been worn by the comatose man as well as the metal plate that was so severely scratched it was difficult to even see the design etched into the metal.

Dumbledore took them and stared at the metal plate for what seemed like hours. The headmaster's usually calm face became more troubled as he studied as he looked at the metal plate. He pulled out one of the various sharp knives that the man had stashed on his person, studying it. "Well, I know what our young charge is," Dumbledore said heavily. "However, I have no idea as to who he could be."

"So, he's still a John Doe," Minerva whispered. Dumbledore nodded and returned the man's effects to the bedside table where they had been placed. Severus Snape stared at the young man's face, suspicion clouding his usually furious looking expression.

"Headmaster, I don't think the students should be allowed to see him once he wakes up," Madame Pomfrey said calmly. The teachers looked at her and noticed the apprehension on her face. Dumbledore looked at her expectantly.

"Well, it may help in identifying him," Madame Pomfrey said as she moved towards the young man nervously, "but the students…they would never accept him as normal." Their interest was piqued at that statement. It was true that the students judged much based on appearance, but there was no doubt that several would accept him readily because of how handsome the young man was.

"What do you mean, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked. Instead of answering, Madame Pomfrey gently lifted one of his arms and turned the palm of his hand to the teachers. There was a mouth on the palm of his hand…an extra mouth. The teachers looked flabbergasted at the mouth on the palm of the young man's hand.

"There are two of them," Poppy said quietly. Dumbledore looked at her sad face and knew then that that man would never be treated as normal by the other students. She was right.

"You're right," Dumbledore said. "It will help us in identifying him if he doesn't wake up. However, I'm confident that he will. He has probably suffered worse, being a shinobi." McGonagall gasped and Snape's face turned even more suspicious. A shinobi was in the castle and that was not going to bode well if he was insane.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah, I know kind of short and it won't really explain much of anything. However, I really felt like I need to cut it short kind of. So yeah, enjoy and review please!

"..." talking in English

_"..."_ talking in Japanese

thinking in English and Japanese

Also, I don't own Naruto or HP. So yeah. Bye now!

Chapter 2:

"_It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees."_

-DOLORES IBARRURI (1895 – 1989)

It had been two days since Deidara had disappeared and he had still not return. Sasori had contacted the Akatsuki and begun his own search. The hitokugutsu was irritated with his partner, not to mention worried. Deidara had disappeared for a week once, but he had shown up again perfectly fine. Many of the other members had expressed indifference at the disappearance of Deidara. Hidan had said that it was exactly like the useless brat to do that.

Kisame and Itachi had actually been startled by the news as had Rei-sama. The three shinobi knew very well about Deidara's vanishing acts since Sasori had gone on several rampages after his disappearances before. However, they also knew that Deidara usually mentioned when he would come back as he had done. He also always came back at the exact time that he had specified.

Rei-sama said that he would send Itachi and Kisame if Sasori couldn't find Deidara within the week. If he did then they were to return with whatever news they had about the people they had been observing. Sasori glowered at the people in the village from his vantage point.

He had found evidence of foul play in an alleyway along with several strands of long golden hair. That had sent shivers through Sasori even though he was a puppet. The entire situation stank of suspicious circumstances. Now, he hoped that his partner was still alive. He really did not want a new partner. After Orochimaru, he hated people who cared for themselves. Deidara really didn't seem to care what happened to him and Sasori had to admit, he really did enjoy the kid's company…even if he was annoying.

* * *

Madame Pomfrey was in the Hospital Wing, the curtains drawn around the bed of the ma who had been found by Hagrid, changing the bandages on his head. The young man had yet to wake up and she hoped that it would be soon. Whoever had done this to him was strong and could pose a huge threat to the school. Hopefully, he would shed some light on the situation if it was dire.

She sighed as she turned to the bedside table where his headband was along with his various weapons. His black trench coat had been cleaned and was folded neatly, repaired completely along with his other clothes. Madame Pomfrey had no idea why the young man was wearing sandals in England. He must have had the notion of falling ill. The nurse wondered if that was the case or not. If it was, he was crazy.

The nurse turned back to the bed with another set of bandages and practically jumped a foot in the air. Her charge was alive and well, eyes open, and he was staring right at her, an unfathomable expression on his face. Once she saw his eyes she felt chills go down her spine. His greenish orbs were stunning but there was a glint of madness in them. She knew then that he was insane and would probably not cooperate. Before she could say a word or bat an eye, his good hand was wrapped tightly around her wrist in a vice like grip. Madame Pomfrey sucked in air desperately trying not to scream as she felt something bite down on her hand, hard.

_"Who are you, un?"_ the man asked in a hoarse, weak voice. His eyes were narrowed slightly. Madame Pomfrey had no idea what the man had just said and it became obvious that he was a foreigner. Now she really needed Dumbledore. She felt the man's grip tighten on her wrist. The woman let out a cry of pain feeling the mouth tighten on her skin as well. _"Who are you, un?"_

"I can't understand you," Madame Pomfrey ground out from behind gritted teeth. The man blinked at her and slowly released her, pulling his hand away. His eyes never left her as she inspected her wrist. A bruise was slowly forming and there was pink mark in the shape of teeth on her skin from where the mouth had bitten her. She looked back at the mind and plastered a smile that she hoped wasn't strained on her face as he observed her coldly. "I'll be right back," the nurse told him slowly and clearly as she turned at walked away from the bed.

Once she was out of the Hospital Wing she locked the door and ran to the Great Hall where Dumbledore was having lunch along with the rest of the student body.

* * *

Deidara was confused. He had no idea where he was and the woman that had been obviously been tending to his wounds spoke a language he did not understand. Not to mention he was in a severe amount of pain. Obviously this woman didn't heal wounds with chakra like typical medic nin. Then again, these people weren't shinobi so it was understandable. Now she had left him alone by himself.

He was quite certain that she had gone to get her superior to alert him/her on his condition. Gritting his teeth, Deidara pushed himself into a sitting position. He was slightly doubled over from the pain. His ribs were screaming in protest at his sudden, not to mention his wrist was still throbbing along with his head. Deidara was certain that he was lucky to be alive, very lucky. Hopefully Sasori would find him soon.

Deidara looked around and realized from the white curtains, white sheets, white pajamas, and white walls that he was currently residing in an infirmary of some sorts. Damn. One of his least favorite places and one the he hated being stuck in for weeks at a time. Surreptitiously, the nuke nin from Iwa uncovered himself and placed a bare foot on the cold stone floor. He slowly swung his other leg onto the floor and rose slowly.

That was definitely not a smart move as Deidara doubled in pain as his ribs made a rather vocal protest to the movement. He gritted his teeth in an attempt from screaming out loud. He was sure there was no one else in the room with him seeming as there were no chakra signatures. One of the many things that Sasori and he had noticed was that these people had the chakra signatures of genin but they were weak.

Still doubled over Deidara took a step towards the bedside table were his belongings were located. His body was not cooperating with him and his knees gave out underneath him. One thing that Deidara hated even more than hospitals and injuries was being brought to his knees by _anything_ in general. _"Damn it…"_ Deidara ground out as his hair fell into his eyes. The door had just opened and closed again with hurried footsteps heading straight towards him.

He heard the curtains slide back on the metal and a small shout of anger. Then a pair of strong arms was pulling him onto his feet. The person recoiled when Deidara let out a snarl and his hand smacked them away from him with enough force to knock them off of their feet. Deidara fell backwards, collapsing onto the floor his face forced into a blank mask so it would seem that he was not suffering from an extreme amount of pain.

The person he had struck was the woman who had been treating him. There were three other people. One was an old man with a long silvery beard that could have been tucked into his belt. He was wearing half-moon spectacles and his nose looked as if it had been broken. The man was looking at him with concern and a bit of surprise. The other woman there looked like sort of like Itachi, just not as evil, on a good day but still like she had a stick shoved up her ass. The only other man was a greasy haired, hook-nosed man who also appeared to have an even larger stick shoved up his ass. Deidara decided right then that he hated them all and would like nothing better than to blow them up.

The old man knelt down next him a reached a hand towards him but Deidara skidded back as far as he could without revealing the amount of pain he was in. The man began to talk in a language he couldn't understand. It was the same language as the one the nurse had been speaking. _"Fuck off old man,"_ Deidara snarled. The old man looked taken aback and slightly amused. Deidara had cut him off mid-sentence and not seemed to care at all.

The man smiled at him, eyes twinkling. _"I'm afraid I can't do that, my boy," _the old man said in Japanese. Deidara could not hide his shock at hearing his own language. This seemed to amuse the man even more.

_"What do you want, un?" _Deidara asked suspiciously. The last time he had come into contact with these people, they had lost their minds and tried to kill him. The man laughed heartily and reached out to pull Deidara back to his feet.

_"Well, I'd like you to get back into bed so you will not injure yourself any further," _the man replied gently pulling the former Iwa nin to his feet. _"Then, I would like it if you answered a few of my questions."_

Deidara glared at the man in suspicion. At least he was being gentle taking into consideration his injuries. That was besides the point though. The Akatsuki member felt no obligation to answer any question. The nuke nin looked at the old man's hand and saw that one of them was black and withered.

Another pair of hands took a hold onto Deidara and they belonged the other man in the room besides the old man. Obviously, this person did not like him either because he unkindly put pressure onto one of his various broken ribs. Deidara sucked in breath from behind gritted teeth and then gave a small cry of pain, doubling over again. The two women reprimanded the black haired and took Deidara away from him. He felt like he was some sort of porcelain that was easily shattered. That angered him like nothing more. Was it enough that he was called a freak and useless? He guessed not.

_"Jii-san, I can walk on my own, un,"_ Deidara growled aloud. The old man observed him from his bright blue eyes that seemed to twinkle. He seemed doubtful.

_"You'll be going to my office,"_ the man told him as if it was a fact that everyone was completely aware of. _"I don't think you'll be able to make it by yourself."_ Deidara glared at him as they left the hospital wing of the large castle and towards the strange old man's office.

Whatever he had in store for Deidara, he didn't know. Deidara didn't particularly care but if it came down to it, he could always blow up the place and get back to Sasori. That also meant losing everything. Well, screw it. It didn't look as though he had any options though. His injuries permitted him from moving very well. He knew very well that he would not get very far at all with the types of wounds he had. Better to just let things fall into place even if he didn't like the idea all that much.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Whoa...short update I know. I don't really care though. The chapters will get longer as time goes on though. Heh. R&R!

Chapter 3:

"_It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."_

_-J.K. Rowling_

Minerva McGonagall was wary of the maybe eighteen year old young man that she and Poppy were assisting to Dumbledore's office where they would be away from any prying ears and eyes besides the portraits of the previous heads of Hogwarts. The blonde haired man had a none too subtle glint of madness in his eyes. Not to mention, he had attack the head nurse twice in five minutes. Dumbledore had also informed them that he had a rather foul mouth and it was quite obvious he lacked respect.

None the less, whoever this John Doe was Minerva hoped that he would provide useful information for them. From what Dumbledore had told them, McGonagall surmised that shinobi were very intelligent people who always had a vast information network with the tendency to pick up useful tidbits every now and then. Though they seldom alerted the people it pertained too unless it was of the utmost importance.

Snape had suggested Veritaserum when he awoke but Dumbledore had said it would not work on a loyal shinobi. They had no idea why, but Minerva was in no mood to find out any time soon. They reached the statue of the gargoyle and Dumbledore spoke the password. If the boy was surprised he did a very good job of not showing it, instead opting to glare. He obviously was not to happy with being carted around like he was some invalid. However, at the moment that was exactly what he was.

They allowed the already moving staircase to take them up to Dumbledore's oval office where Poppy and herself placed the boy in a comfortable chair. "If you'll excuse me Headmaster," Poppy said as she walked away. "I need to get back to the Hospital Wing before lunch is over. Someone is going to have to treat those student's injuries."

Dumbledore nodded his head sagely as she walked out and turned back to boy sitting in front of him, mouth tightly shut in defiance and looking thoroughly irritated about something. Minerva watched as Dumbledore smiled at him and then called for one of the house elves. With a loud crack Dobby appeared with his huge tennis ball eyes and ears that batted the sides of his head as he nodded his head fervently in Dumbledore's direction.

"Dobby, could you go to the Hospital Wing and pick up the belongings of this young gentleman here and take them to an open guest room in one of the towers, please," Dumbledore requested kindly. The house elf gave a very low bow and with a crack disappeared. McGonagall looked at the long-haired boy and saw him desperately trying to restrain himself from laughing at something. It must have been Dobby because the man's eye was twitching slightly from the pain at wanting to laugh so hard.

Snape looked as if he could care less but McGonagall knew that they needed to start asking him questions.

* * *

Deidara watched as the old man pulled out a stick, waved it in the air, and a tea set magically appeared. He was most definitely stuck with a bunch of loons. _"Tea?" _the old man offered. In response Deidara glowered at the man deciding to keep his mouth shut. He wasn't accepting anything from this man. It was as probable as him having a pleasant conversation with the Tsuchikage having just left the Akatsuki and showed up in Iwa to stay for good. Deidara would blow himself up before he did that, not to mention Rei-sama would probably kill him on the spot if he did that.

_"I guess not," _the old man said after a few moments and then pulled out a yellow candy from a dish on his desk offering yet another item of food to Deidara. He stared at him in response. _"Lemon drop then?"_

_"Are you senile, un?"_ Deidara asked harshly. He didn't care if this old guy was kindly offering him food. The missing nin _would not _accept it. _Ever._ The old man laughed in response and popped the yellow candy into his mouth. It was if he could care less what Deidara said to him no matter how cruel it was.

_"My name is Albus Dumbledore,"_ the man said kindly as he drank from the tea cup floating by his head. Sure, that was normal…yeah right. If this man thought that he was going to get a pleasant conversation boy was he wrong. Deidara decided right then to do what he did best, irritate people. _"Would you mind telling me yours? After all, it's only polite."_

Deidara glared at him. He had a point, it was polite and he had taken it upon himself to introduce himself first. _'Might as well get this over with…'_ The shinobi stared blankly at the man now known to him as Dumbledore before answering. _"Deidara, un."_

_"Thank you, Deidara-san,"_ the man named Dumbledore replied. _"Now, do you remember what happened to you two days ago?"_ This was going to be fun. If he could irritate Sasori by not answering his questions and Uchiha Itachi at the same time, he didn't see why he couldn't do the same thing to the senile old man sitting in front of him.

_"Nope, un,"_ Deidara replied, grinning cheekily. Of course he remembered. Who wouldn't? The old man looked slightly taken aback. Well, at least Operation Irritate Senile Old Man was going smoothly at the moment. Deidara watched as his expression turned back to the one of 'I-don't-mind-if-you-hate-me-I'll-just-keep-smiling' look.

_"Alright then, was your opponent a threat to this school?"_ Dumbledore asked him gently questioning Deidara. In response, Deidara decided to just keep smiling and to start humming a very happy tune. The old man raised an eyebrow in response as he sat there grinning as if he had not a care in the world. Inwardly, Deidara was laughing his head off. If this didn't tell them he was off his rocker, he didn't know what would. Maybe blowing up something for the hell of it?

_"Don't know, don't care, un,"_ Deidara responded as audaciously as he could. Which was incredibly impertinent when you got down to the nuts and bolts of the situation. His disrespect was just adding obvious irritation to the two other people standing on either side of him.

The old man, however, just seemed to stay mildly amused as Deidara went back to humming his happy tune. _"Very well, what is an Iwa nin doing all the way in England alone?"_ Dumbledore asked in a normal tone of voice. Deidara's grin vanished and he stopped humming the tune opting to stare at the old man with an unfathomable look on his face. He wasn't a god damn Iwa nin anymore, he was a member of the Akatsuki and if this senile old man knew about shinobi then it was obvious that he should know he was a nuke nin.

_"Former, get your facts straight ji-ji,"_ replied Deidara. The old man raised his eyebrows in surprise. Obviously it was his first time dealing with an S-class criminal, a certain eccentric S-class criminal that enjoyed art. Deidara just looked at the man impassively. He hated it when people brought of his former home. Iwagakure was a place he would enjoy turning into a barren landscape in a matter of minutes. He could care less about the people there.

_"You are aware then that I could send you back to Iwagakure if you so desired,"_ the old man told him. Deidara stared at him not responding to his question. It was definitely his first time dealing with a nuke nin. So, Deidara decided to not reply. This seemed to concern the man sitting behind his desk. Deidara watched his expression and knew that he had suspected him of being a missing nin all along. So what? At least the old fart had his facts straight now.

_"Very well, Deidara-san," _Dumbledore continued as he stood up. _"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave under these circumstances."_

_"What?" _Deidara asked in a dangerous voice. Dumbledore looked at him in mild surprise. It was apparent to the Headmaster that he was _unhinged_ but now he blatantly showed it.

_"Deidara-san, you are refusing to answer my questions even though honor is in the code of shinobi," _Dumbledore replied as he came around his desk to stand in front of him. The entire lecture on honor irritated Deidara. Honor? Honor wasn't in any shinobi's code of conduct. It was only written in print. If honor was so highly valued he wouldn't have been called a freak by his own fellow Iwa nin his entire life.

_"Not mine, un,"_ Deidara growled. The old man sighed and continued speaking ignoring Deidara's last comment. He was already angry with the man, the headmaster would be wise in not pushing it. Obviously he didn't know Deidara's personality all that well.

_"I'm giving you a room in a tower to stay in for the duration of the year," _Dumbledore continued. _"Please feel free to roam around the castle once your injuries are healed. Madame Pomfrey will come periodically to change your bandages and to check on your progress."_

Deidara glared at him as the headmaster of the school nodded to the greasy haired man who unceremoniously pulled Deidara to his feet and took him to the room he would be staying. The nuke nin glared at nothing in particular the entire way there begging Fate to let Sasori find him as soon as possible. He already hated it here and being stuck in a school with sniveling brats was one of the things that Deidara had not intended to be doing during that particular assignment that was given to him by Rei-sama. When he reached the tower room the man practically shoved him into the room and locked the door.

The blonde haired teen looked around the room. Perfect, there was plenty of things for him to trash in there if he so desired. Deidara discovered his other belongings on a chair and shuffling slowly, he moved towards the four poster bed sitting down and stared around the dimly lit room. With a sigh Deidara laid down and went to sleep feeling that he would much rather be sleeping at the moment than moving around. He was still in pain.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay then! Sorry it took so long but here's the update...coughs Yeah, I love snow days now. does a happy dance WAHOO!!

**Aurora Marija:** I apologize if that confused you, but they already are in England. What happened in the prologue and what the hell they originally were stationed in England will be explained later on, but just not yet.

Okays, I'm done for now answering questions! So enjoy and review!!

Chapter 4:

"_The only real prison is fear, _

_and the only real freedom is freedom from fear."_

-AUNG SAN SUU KYI (1945 – )

Another day had passed since the annoying blonde bombshell known as Deidara had mysteriously vanished. Sasori was staring at the horizon as the sun was rising hoping that his partner would show up with that cheeky grin on his face like he usually did. The minutes agonizingly passed as the hitokugutsu waited for the nuke nin from Iwa.

That morning was brisk, the wind rustling the leaves gently almost as if the already chirping birds were mocking the nuke nin from Suna. Sasori sent a withering glare towards the chirps. As the bright orange gaseous sphere rose fully into the air with Deidara no where in sight, Sasori sighed heavily.

Yet another day of searching. Yet another day of cursing Deidara and the Fates. Yet another day of wanting to scream obscenities. And yet another day of worrying.

Sasori stood heavily and summoned one of his other hitokugutsu silently giving it it's orders for the day. It was the same routine day after day as he continued the ongoing hunt for his childish, annoying partner. _"Where the hell did you go this time?"_

* * *

Deidara moaned as he felt someone's hands shaking him awake. He tried to roll over and found that he couldn't due to the rather painful protest of his ribs. Whoever was trying to wake him shook his shoulders. In response, Deidara turned his head away from the person and muttered something to Sasori. _"Sasori-danna…go away…"_ he muttered. 

The person shook his shoulder again and slowly Deidara cracked open his green eyes. Groaning he looked over to find the head nurse glowering at him, lips pursed from the successful attempt in awakening Deidara from his "pleasant slumber." Deidara glared at the woman as she pulled out her wand. He didn't trust these maniacs with magic sticks at all. The nuke nin would sooner allow Sasori to turn him into a hitokugutsu than allow them to perform some weird stick waving thing on him.

The woman pointed the wand at herself and a moment later she put it away and started removing the bandages on Deidara's head. _"I thought you were dead for a moment there," _the woman told him, laughing slightly as if it was a joke. _"You still have a slight concussion so you need to be careful."_

Deidara glared. He would be better off dead than being stuck in a room for whatever amount of time they saw fit to leave him in there for. Obviously they hadn't realized keeping Deidara in one spot for very long was like trying to tell fresh water minnows about the large salty ocean that resided outside of their puddle. In other words, it was pretty damn near impossible. _"Well, how are you feeling?"_

_"Before you decided to wake me up, just fine, un,"_ Deidara replied with a leer. His rudeness made her fall silent for a moment. Without a word of warning the woman grabbed his left wrist gently but the minimal amount of pressure on the broken bones caught Deidara off guard. He let out a small cry of pain and yanked his arm out of her grasp then scooted away nearly falling off of the four poster bed in the process. The nurse stood up hurriedly and reached out to gently pulled him back. _"Let me go, un."_

The nurse ignored his protests and gently forced him back to the other side of the bed where she could reach him, clucking her tongue in disapproval as she did so. _"I know it still hurts but if you want to get better then you'll have to comply,"_ the nurse told him with a frown of displeasure. Deidara glared at her. She flinched slightly from his piercing gaze but continued with her work as if nothing was going on. Silently, the woman redid the splint and redid the bindings holding it in place.

As if unfazed by his blatantly obvious aura of pure loathing and fury at her being there, the nurse reached for more bandages but Deidara had no intention of complying. He wanted to go back to sleep. Deidara crawled onto three of his limbs, favoring his broken wrist, and half crawled half hopped on threes away from the woman and onto the floor where he skittered into a corner by the window much to the nurse's amusement.

Deidara had chosen that spot in the tower for a particular reason. The window well allowed him to be slightly visible and if one of Sasori's various hitokugutsu were on the grounds and clinging to the stone masonry of the castle, then that puppet would spot him and return to Sasori with the information. It was purely strategic and partly because of Deidara's childish nature in refusing to be attended to when injured.

However, the nurse was just as stubborn. She stood up and walked over to him, smiling in amusement. _"I don't bite, you know," _she laughed.

_"What part of 'leave me alone' do you not understand?" _Deidara hissed in a dangerous voice. The nurse halted in her tracks and Deidara would have cracked a ludicrous smile had the situation called for it, but he wanted that woman to leave. She gave him a sad smile and turned to the table where his belongings were and picked up his hitai-ate which was still badly damage. Tapping it with her wand it was good as new with no scratches, exactly like he had received it the day he had graduated from the Academy.

She returned it to the table and then looked at him again. _"I'll have some food sent up to you," _announced the nurse as she turned to leave, _"you must be hungry."_ The woman turned and walked out of the room leaving a thoroughly irritated Deidara alone in the window well. The door shut with a heavy thud and there was the faint click of a lock. He was trapped yet again.

Deidara curled himself up into a ball in the window hugging his knees. The Iwa nin turned his face to the window and found himself looking down over glass buildings with small figures milling around on the green grass in what appeared to be black dresses. He scrunched his face in distaste. If he had his scope still with him, Deidara could focus in on them and then do a little espionage. That way he was still completing his mission while in captivity. Unfortunately, it had been shattered during the fight.

Sasori's puppets were probably no where near the castle though since there had been some sort of barrier around the castle grounds. Again, just like many previous times in his life, Deidara was alone. Sasori didn't know it, but all of those excursions weren't always for fun and to see if he could get his partner angry (which was often the end result); they were because Deidara needed to get away from the other members. If he didn't, his mask would break. Several times Deidara had contemplated on just letting go and many times he had wandered off without telling anyone, to do just that. But every time he tried, he couldn't.

Slipping back behind his mask of everything was just peaches and cream, Deidara smirked and slowly trudged towards the table and stared at his hitai-ate, now good as new. He stared at the etched mark for Iwagakure and his smile grew wider. Reaching into a kunai pouch, Deidara pulled out one of his several throwing knives and scratched out the insignia once again.

Slowly, and with some degree of difficulty, Deidara slipped back into his own clothes. Silently, he reached into one of the various pouches and pulled out an extra ponytail holder for his hair since he never did know when one would break. He redid his hair after cutting away the bandages, and just stared into the mirror.

A nasty cut was on his forehead from when he had been thrown into the wall and it had since scabbed over. Deidara frowned. The special medical cream all members were required to carry was in a scroll, but he was unable to form the hand seals with only one hand. Besides, Deidara didn't want to arouse suspicion as to how much chakra he had, and could rely on, when pressed. That wasn't one of the things these lunatics needed to be rudely awoken to as of yet.

The real Deidara was back, not the weakened invalid they had presumed him to be. He was a missing nin with no loyalties. Why bother pretending to be a good little dutiful shinobi who's comrades never abandoned him when they had? Deidara was Akatsuki and he found no point in hiding it. It was time to give these loons and the bunches of sniveling brats they took care of a taste of what the S-class criminal had done to his own village: destroy most of it.

* * *

The infamous trio of Hogwarts – Harry, Ron, and Hermione – were struggling to find out who the enigmatic figure that had been carried into the Great Hall three days earlier. The subject of the blonde haired stranger was the subject of recurring gossip and rumors among the students. Teachers had struggled to stop the rumors, but to no avail. Students refused to let the topic go. 

Harry had pulled out the Marauder's Map the day that the young man had been discovered and found writing he could not identify where the charge of Madam Pomfrey was residing: the Hospital Wing. Hermione had so graciously pointed out that a person with such extensive injuries that the young man obviously had would be staying in the Hospital Wing.

That didn't allay his and Ron's suspicions though. Daily the two would check the Marauder's Map to see any sign of movement from him, or, for that matter, of him. For two days, nothing. The teachers remained tight lipped and Madam Pomfrey double checked to see if student's weren't faking injuries. Then two days after his arrival, Madam Pomfrey came rushing into the Great Hall, frantic, and then left with the Headmaster, McGonagall, and their least favorite: Snape.

Harry had pulled out the map and they found the mysterious man had been moved to Albus Dumbledore's office. Fifteen minutes later, he was put into a tower overlooking the greenhouses. The man had been there ever since.

It was Transfiguration and the students were restless with gossip about the shadowy mystery surrounding the obviously very young man. Professor McGonagall was vainly struggling to keep her student's attention, albeit Hermione was paying fervent attention per usual, on the topic at hand. The frazzled professor was about to start shrieking until Dean Thomas raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Thomas?" she asked in a strained voice. It was obvious that she was hoping that the question was not in regards to the man who was now locked in a tower room.

"Well…we're all wondering if that man has woken up yet," replied Dean. McGonagall's nostrils flared and every student waited for the impending detention with bated breath. It never came.

"He's awoken, yes," McGonagall replied. She returned to teaching but more hands rose into the air. "Yes, Miss Patil?"

"Where is he?" asked Parvati. All of the girls were desperate to meet him, but he had remained hidden for the longest time. McGonagall sighed knowing her efforts were futile. Three days of no news was enough to create a storm within the castle.

"He has been relocated away from students for his own safety," replied McGonagall to their question. "Now, can I continue with my teaching?" Professor McGonagall returned to explaining but it was Hermione's hand that caught her attention for the third time. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"If you don't mind my asking Professor, but why for his own protection?" asked Hermione, voicing the thought that was running through every student's mind. McGonagall appraised Hermione for a moment, her face a blank mask, before replying.

"Let's just say, he's different," McGonagall replied. "If you ask me any more questions I'll put you all in detention." The questions ceased immediately and the class was silent until the bell. Ron, Harry, and Hermione hurried out of the class to the library for their hour long break hoping to find a Japanese dictionary.

"Why would he be locked in a tower for his own protection because he's different?" asked Harry as they pushed their way through the crowd. Hermione looked pensive as the ran but Ron voiced his opinion straight away.

"He must be a Death Eater," announced the youngest boy of the Weasley family. Hermione snorted as the entered the library obviously disagreeing with him.

"I doubt it, Ron," she replied in a slightly scathing tone. Ron gave her an incredulous look. "There are barriers around the castle. Besides we can't Apparate of Disapparate on Hogwarts grounds. It would be impossible for him to have gotten on to the grounds."

"Then how did he?" asked Harry in a whisper as they combed through a shelf looking for one of the multiple books that might assist them. Hermione looked at her black haired cohort for a moment, a frown on her face.

"I don't know," replied Hermione slowly. Ron's mouth dropped open. It was a rare occurrence for Hermione to not know something. "If he's been locked in a tower then it must be for some reason. I think it's because we're a threat to each other. There is always the possibility that he could be just as dangerous as a Death Eater."

Her friends contemplated that statement as she shoved a book into Ron's hands. They didn't realize it then, but Hermione was right. Unfortunately for the golden trio they would find that out very soon.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Yeah, sorry about the long update. My power was out all day today. Pacific Northwest weather really is a wonderful wonderful thing. (Sarcasm...it sucks, seriously). That's besides the point though. I regret to announce that I am putting all fanfictions on hiatus until I finish my biology products. I will attempt to update one more time in my other stories this year. However, this will be the last update for awhile. I apologize and please forgive me for doing this to all of you loyal readers out there. I am swamped with homework and I will not be able to complete my assignments _and_ update regularly for all of you wonderful people. Again, I apologize and please bear with me by checking to see if I have updated at least once a weak because I don't know when I'll be done with all of these stupid projects. Dammit...

* * *

Chapter 5: 

"_Insane people are always sure that they are fine._

_It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that_

_they are crazy."_

_-Nora Ephron_

A week had finally past with no sign of Deidara anywhere besides the evidence that a fight had occurred the day his childish partner had disappeared. Sasori suspected that Deidara had gone towards the castle casting the tiny village of Hogsmeade in it's behemoth of a shadow. The puppet master was so infuriated with Deidara that he had caused mass destruction on a hill nearby the village.

The next morning a conglomerate of villagers stood beneath the hill staring at the destruction in confused awe, much to Sasori's pleasure. Still, that evening he was awaiting Itachi and Kisame who were being sent by Rei-sama and they would not be pleased when they witnessed the destruction. Kisame would probably find it absolutely hilarious. _'Tch…stupid shark…'_

One of Sasori's puppets approached him which was his sign that Itachi and Kisame were approaching. Sasori stood, awaiting his comrades approach. Out of the shadows the blue figure of Kisame with a hulking figure of a sword on his back, beside him the shorter figure of one Uchiha Itachi.

_"Good evening, Sasori-san," _greeted Itachi in his normal monotone voice. Sasori inclined his head in acknowledgement. And just as Sasori had predicted, Kisame burst into laughter as soon as Itachi had uttered a word.

_"What, Hoshigaki-san?"_ asked Sasori, knowing full well what he was going to ask him. Kisame grinned at him and Itachi looked as if he could care less as to what was going on.

_"So, Sasori-san, did you destroy that hill in one night?"_ asked Kisame with a widening grin. Sasori's eye twitched in irritation. Yes, yes he had. If Kisame was stuck with the annoying brat for a partner then he would have done the exact same thing. Itachi sent Kisame a withering look.

Kisame's grin stayed in place but he fell silent.

_"What have you found so far?" _asked Itachi. Sasori was silent for a few moments staring into the fire.

_"Not much,"_ replied Sasori. Itachi raised an eyebrow. _"Evidence of foul play here and there…"_ Sasori trailed off in thought. Kisame's grin vanished and Itachi's expression remained blank.

_"Foul play?" _asked Kisame. _"It doesn't sound like the brat to run into nasty situations."_ Sasori silently agreed. Itachi turned and started heading towards the village. The hitokugutsu banked the fire and followed the Uchiha with Kisame lagging behind. _"What now, Itachi?"_

Itachi said nothing as he jumped onto the nearest roof followed by Sasori and Kisame. The looked down onto the streets below. What lay below stunned the three normally emotionless criminals standing atop the rooftops.

Limping slightly through the streets were three men. Their skin was as white as snow and their steps sagged as if weighted down by a great burden. The dirt on the ground beneath their feet scraped with a grating sound like nails on a chalkboard. Their eyes were nothing but a void, glassy orbs staring at nothing; mouths sagged as they moved.

The three shinobi watched in silence as the three corpses passed them. Sasori and the others exchanged glances. Now they had their answer. Someone knew that they were there and they were determined to eradicate even if they knew who they were. It was possible that they had already gotten Deidara.

* * *

It was Saturday and Dumbledore was waiting for Harry in his office. The old man sat staring at nothing, fingertips touching as he sat with his elbows propped on his chair. Dumbledore was nervous but he refused to show it. Harry was going to meet Deidara. An undoubtedly insane shinobi who had no respect for other people and was a danger to all those around him.

The moment he had seen Deidara's green eyes open and alive he knew there was something wrong. It was not everyday that you met someone with such a well-place mask. Not only that, the glint of madness was prevalent. What could make a person insane by the age of possibly eighteen years?

Hopefully, Harry would understand something by meeting Deidara. Tom Riddle was insane, but Dumbledore knew that Deidara was not as unreachable mentally as was the now Dark wizard.

A knock on Dumbledore's office door pulled the wizened old man out of his musings. Raising his silvery head Dumbledore announced permission for entrance. The handle turned and in walked the sixteen year old Harry Potter. "Good evening, sir," he said.

"Ah, good evening, Harry. Sit, please," said Dumbledore with a smile on his face. Harry sat and Dumbledore observed him silently for a moment.

"Sir?" the teen asked him, confusion tainting his voice. Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes looked at Harry.

"I know you're wondering about that young man, Harry," Dumbledore said after a short pause, "most students are." Harry squirmed slightly. Smiling warmly at the pupil sitting in front of him. "You'll be meeting him tonight, Harry."

"I will?" asked Harry, incredulous. Dumbledore nodded his head sagely. His eyes sparkled even though his face was serious.

"His name is Deidara," continued Dumbledore. "I have a few words of warning though." The headmaster watched Harry slightly amused at his expression.

"What do you mean sir?" asked Harry. Dumbledore gave him a small rueful smile as he thought of Deidara's peculiar personality. He was going to be hard to describe.

"Well, you see, Deidara is a shinobi of a very peculiar character," replied Dumbledore. "In other words, he is insane. I have no idea what made him insane but how he got here may have something to do with Voldemort which is why we are going to see him this evening." The headmaster stood from his chair beckoning for Harry to follow. The young teen stood as well and trailed after the headmaster questions obviously about to burst from his mouth.

"Why would you want me talk to him?" asked the green eyed teen behind him. Dumbledore looked at him, a serious expression on his face. Deidara could not be more than eighteen years of age. Thus, Harry would be two years younger than him. The idea that Deidara would talk to someone his own age and possibly about what had happened.

However, there were some serious drawbacks to this plan. Deidara may have been childish but he was far more mature than the young wizard under his tutelage. Dumbledore was certain that the Akatsuki member (for he was very certain by the jacket that Deidara had that he was in fact Akatsuki) had been a hardened murderer for years. Not to mention, as a shinobi he received the best training in assassination. He would withhold information and torture of the wizarding method would not make him talk, _ever. _

"Well, Deidara is about eighteen," replied Dumbledore after a few moments thought. They were walking down one of the many corridors to the tower Deidara was being held in. "The hope is that he will talk to you more than someone like myself. He would most definitely _not_ speak to Severus. The two showed a mutual dislike of each other. Besides, I do not wish to use Veritaserum."

"Why exactly, sir, will you not use Veritaserum?" inquired the curious boy beside him. Dumbledore gave a rueful smile at the thought of the kinds of torture that ninja inflicted upon spies and enemy nin.

"Let's just say, that the methods ninja use to extract information are far more brutal than the torture curse and Veritaserum would have practically no effect upon a person hardened to withstand torture to the highest degree imaginable," replied Dumbledore, frowning at the grisly thought of some of the things he had become well acquainted with through some shinobi contacts.

Harry looked surprised and Dumbledore was not in the least shocked. The boy beside him was used to thinking in the terms of Unforgivable Curses. Muggle torture was difficult to imagine but torture that most certainly kill in a matter of seconds an individual unaccustomed to such things was beyond the boy's scope of imagination. What people cannot conceive an think of, is difficult for them to imagine.

"Does he speak English, sir?" Harry asked. Dumbledore laughed. Deidara obviously was from a clan with a kekkei genkai. What sort of kekkei genkai, he did not know nor had he any desire to experience whatever it was. Somehow he doubted that Deidara had been paid much attention to as a child by his parents and his fellow peers. It really was a disheartening thought.

"No, Harry my boy, he does not," Dumbledore replied. "Thus, for tonight I shall be your interpreter. However, I suggest you learn a translation spell rather quickly because Deidara will most likely become very irritated with not being able to understand you and then…I don't want to speculate as to the outcome. There may very well be some destruction."

The look on the boy's face was to be expected. After all, who would want to be at the receiving end of an insane nuke nin's fury? He doubted anyone would, but Dumbledore's gut told him that Deidara would not inflict damage to anyone as of yet.

Coming to a halt outside of the locked wooden door to Deidara's room, Dumbledore stopped Harry one more time. Dumbledore was sure that Harry felt as if he was about to enter a room in some Bluebeard's castle **(1)**. However, he had one last word of warning. "Keep your wand hidden, Harry, but do not use it unless you are threatened," Dumbledore murmured. "Also, a spell is only as fast as the caster. Use only the Stunning Spell if necessary."

Harry nodded his assent. The boy really did look like he was about to walk up to the scaffold to his imminent demise. Dumbledore gave him a reassuring smile as he waved his wand at the door and opened it walking in. Harry followed him and they looked around. Deidara seemed to be nowhere.

Silently Dumbledore closed the wooden door. In the blink of an eye Deidara appeared in front of the two wizards on the ground, a cruel glint in his eye. Leering at them, there was a whistling sound as a kunai came flying out of the air landing with a thud in the wooden door inches away from Harry's face.

Without thinking Harry pulled out his wand silently cast the Stunning Spell. Deidara was to absorbed in Dumbledore's presence in front of him to notice the spell whizzing straight at him. The red jet of light hid the Iwa nin square in the chest.

His green eyes rolled up in his head and with a thud, Deidara lay on the ground unconscious. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Harry knowing that he was going to be irate upon revival. Perhaps it would be wise to move him onto the comfortable sofa by the fire.

* * *

**(1)** Okay, this is an allusion to the very famous fairy tale entitled Bluebeard. It's about a man by the same name as the title of the fairy tale (ha ha ha) who had seven wives. Funny thing is (not really), is that he killed all of them in a room in his chateau. Well, the old bastard remarries the youngest daughter of one his neighbors who was very reluctant. Bluebeard leaves and entrusts the keys of the chateau to his young wife and forbids her to enter a certain room. Her sister convinces the over-curious wife to open the door and they do. They find the bodies of Bluebeard's previous wife and blood gets on the key that was used to open the door. Since the blood will not wash off of the key, Bluebeard is mad aware that his wife has disobeyed his orders. Angry with her, and wanting to kill her, Bluebeard chases her and her sister to the room in the chateau where he murdered his other wives. They lock the door so he cannot come in and just when he is about to break down the door the sisters' brother appears and kills Bluebeard saving them. Pleasant isn't it?

I included that because on the other side of that door is in fact a "Bluebeard", in this case Deidara is Bluebeard and Harry is the over-curious wife while Dumbledore is the over-curious wife's sister. Since Deidara is in fact a shinobi and is known to have killed people (no shit), he is the perfect allusion for Bluebeard...just not some crusty old ugly geezer. And in no way, is Harry a woman and married to him. The same thing goes for Dumbledore, just not the married part...in-laws more like it...

Okay, I'm done now. Review please! If you have any questions I shall answer them in your review!


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Yeah...umm...just check my bio page for status on stories if I don't update in awhile since I placed all stories on an uncertain hiatus and there is a chance that they will return to said temporary status no matter how uncertain it is.

Chapter 6:

"_We hate some person because we do not know them;_

_and we will not know them because we hate them."_

_-Charles Caleb Colton (1780 – 1832)_

Dumbledore looked at the kunai embedded some inches in the door behind him. Obviously, he was not aiming to kill because if he had, Harry would have been dead. The headmaster knew that he had to explain that to Harry very soon, otherwise the two would get nowhere. Walking back to the unconscious Deidara, he beckoned Harry to assist him in moving the incapacitated shinobi. Harry readily complied.

"Harry, my boy, that was _not_ a very wise decision on your part," chastised Dumbledore gently. It would be better to let the boy vent his terror about having a kunai go whizzing past his face, missing him by mere inches.

"He tried to kill me, sir!" protested Harry, just as Dumbledore had expected of him. In response, he merely smiled at the pupil who was now standing beside the soft sofa which held the young nuke nin captive in his temporary comatose state.

"Oh no Harry, he didn't," replied Dumbledore, a slightly amused tint in his tone. Harry looked at him, confused. Well, _that_ was to be expected.

"Sir?"

"Deidara missed you by mere inches," answered Dumbledore. "Any self-respecting shinobi would have killed the person he deemed his enemy on sight; in other words, you would have been dead if he was actually _trying_ to kill you. Therefore, he was merely attempting to frighten you, in hopes of causing us to run away like frightened little children." Harry looked at him, incredulity plastered all over his face. Dumbledore chuckled softly. Now, for the coming storm. The headmaster pointed his wand at the unconscious Deidara, and watched him open his eyes, guardedly.

The stunning jade eyes of Deidara, malicious intent and all, glared up at the old man and the young boy standing above him. There was no smile on his face, and the cold fury that had been residing in the boy for so long was obviously waiting to burst forth from the dam holding it back by mere threads.

_"Allow me to apologize, Deidara-san, on behalf of my young pupil's rash actions,"_ Dumbledore said to him. Deidara forced himself into a sitting position. The headmaster didn't know what the nuke nin was thinking, mask in place as it always was. How shinobi hid their emotions so well never did cease to amaze the old man. Even the most skilled in Occlumency were not as good at doing so. Wizards could take a few tips from shinobi sometimes.

Deidara scoffed. _"Sniveling brats always panic when threatened, un," _ Deidara growled, throwing a very pointed look at Harry. Dumbledore fought the urge to snort with laughter.

"What did hesay, sir?" asked Harry. Deidara said something before Dumbledore could translate.  
_"It seems this brat is even worse than your academy student at handling difficult situations, un,"_ spat Deidara, still glaring at Harry. Dumbledore watched Harry squirm under Deidara's gaze, a definite **Never Do This** when someone encountered a shinobi, _any_ shinobi. Well, it would be interesting to see how Harry handled Deidara's backhanded insults with such a very pointed choice of words.

"He said: 'Sniveling brats always panic when threatened,' and 'It seems this brat is even worse than your academy student at handling difficult situations,'" translated the headmaster of Hogwarts, amusement in his voice. "Harry, he just insulted you in a rather backhanded way. I suggest you don't fire back with your own."

Harry looked infuriated and the nuke nin sitting in front of him only grinned, confirming Dumbledore's hypothesis that it was all a ploy to get under the boy's skin. Unfortunately, it was working all too well. Dumbledore had to hand it to Deidara, the kid knew how to irritate people like there was no tomorrow.

_"Ne, old man you don't come here unless you have a reason, un," _spat Deidara at the headmaster. Dumbledore smiled at Deidara genially. Deidara's response was to keep his grin in place, not uttering a word.

Dumbledore was slightly worried as to what Deidara's reaction would be to what he was going to tell him. No doubt the shinobi would not be pleased to be have Harry, or a sniveling brat as he deemed him, as his sole visitor and guardian besides Madam Pomfrey and an occasional teacher. The headmaster sighed as he began knowing he was in for a long night.

--

It had been an hour since that old coot of a headmaster had left taking the brat with him. Needless to say, Deidara was furious. A brat was supposed to be visiting him during his free period and in the evenings and was allowed to bring his friends along with him. That was just what Deidara needed: brats talking to him.

Deidara sat in the window well silently. There was something strange about these people and he did not like them, especially the greasy-haired, batty one. These people reminded him too much of Iwagakure, a place he would rather blow up than return to. The nurse and her pity, the headmaster and his eccentric mannerisms, that sallow-skinned asshole, and the brats all reminded him of people he had killed and would much rather see dead than alive. Sasori was probably still looking for him, but he knew the real reason they would bother searching for him.

In Akatsuki, it did not matter if your partner was killed or you yourself was unlucky enough to be killed on the job. All that really mattered was the ring signifying your membership. No one cared what happened to you once you were dead and gone, never to return.

Smiling ruefully, the Iwa nin knew that not one person in his life had ever really cared if he died or not. His parents and family hadn't cared, his teammates and sensei hadn't cared, and the Tsuchikage sure as hell hadn't cared about him. He doubted Sasori-danna cared about him as well. That was merely a part of being Akatsuki though. Life was painful, and Deidara knew that, perhaps better than anyone else in that castle.

_"Let's see what havoc I can't wreck this time around,"_ said Deidara to no one in particular, rising from his spot. Sometimes he wondered if trading his life of running for one in the Akatsuki was really worth it. Well, running wasn't living but being a burden wasn't either.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"_A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,_

_We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;_

_But were we burdened with like weight of pain,_

_As much or more we should ourselves complain."_

_-William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)_

Harry was impatient after meeting Deidara to begin talking with him. Despite the fact he had nearly killed Harry, he was an interesting character. Deidara held an air of mystery around him for the young wizard turning him into an enigma.

He had enlisted the help of Hermione in finding the translation spell. She was

also interested in meeting Deidara after hearing what had transpired during their meeting. Ron was doubtful of meeting him, being sure that he would attack them just as he had done to Harry.

During there free period they spent half an hour in the library looking for a translation spell. At last Hermione found one and in a matter of seconds, mastered it. After all, it was Hermione.

Ron decided to let them visit the rather stir crazy shinobi who was likely to skewer the hapless person who happened to waltz on into his prison. It took them a few minutes to reach the room.

Hermione found it a rather desolate hallway wondering why they chose to keep him so isolated. She voiced her confusion to Harry who merely snorted in response. "Trust me, it's better that he is kept up here," he replied.

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Hermione, think about it," murmured Harry. "If he was wandering around the school, he could be capable of serious damage." His companion shrugged her shoulders in response. She pitied him really. The two stood standing outside of the door in an awkward silence.

There were thuds hitting the door from inside of Deidara's room. Hopefully, he wasn't using the poor wooden door for target practice. "Ready?"

Harry nodded numbly as he unlocked the door. Sure enough, Deidara had made a pincushion out of the wood door. There was a variety of assorted weapons embedded in the wood. Sitting all the way across the room, seated in the window well, was none other than Deidara, an impish smile on his face. It only grew wider when he laid eyes on him. The little voice in the back of Hermione's mind was screaming at her to run.

* * *

_"Gaki, you came,"_ greeted Deidara, twirling a kunai around the forefinger on his good hand. _"I was getting bored. Who's your little friend, un?"_

Harry was silent for a moment debating whether to tell them the truth. Deidara watched him quietly waiting for a response. _"I don't have all day, un."_ He watched the black haired brat turn to the bushy-haired girl expectantly. She opened her mouth like a fish then closed it again. Deidara rolled his eyes and threw the kunai lazily at the door. It whizzed past their heads landing in the wooden door. _"You are so boring, un." _

_"My…my name is Hermione,"_ the girl finally announced. Deidara grinned at her again; it was a smile that could hardly be considered pleasant.

_"That wasn't so hard, un,"_ Deidara laughed mirthlessly. The girl called Hermione visibly shivered at his laugh. She turned around, looking at the door with raised eyebrows.

_"Doors must be very difficult opponents,"_ she observed turning a wry grin in his direction. Deidara smiled grimly.

_"Terribly, un,"_ agreed Deidara sarcastically. He continued smiling as he stood up, moving towards them without a sound. Hermione was nervous and Deidara could tell. Her eyes darted back and forth in her head. It would be so easy to kill them both, but Deidara could not do that as of yet. _"Well, tell me this Hermione-san, did Potter-san coerce you into joining him, un?"_

Hermione looked at him blankly for a moment; Deidara continued to watch her carefully. He wanted to get as much information as he could out of the two. _"No. I was actually very interested in meeting you, Deidara-san," _replied Hermione.

Deidara smirked. 'Interested in meeting him'…sure, that was true. _"How much do you know about shinobi, un?"_

Hermione looked slightly confused as did her black haired companion. They exchanged a glance. Obviously they did not know much. Good. Hopefully they could keep it that way. _"You don't have to answer the question, un."_

_"We-we'll come back tomorrow, Deidara-san,"_ replied Hermione hesitantly. Deidara laughed softly to himself as they walked out the door. Too bad Sasori wasn't there. He would love to have turned those annoying brats into hitokugutsu.

* * *

Deidara spent the rest of the evening yanking his kunai, senbon, and shuriken out of the door with his good hand. He hadn't realized how angry he was until he started pulling out the varying weapons from the door. Pathetic really, he never was very good at channeling his frustration and anger. That was what had led to his ruin in his own opinion. His face went flat, blank as a sheet of paper. He wondered what Sasori thought about his disappearance. Was he really as alone as Deidara? He doubted it. Deidara looked out of the window. The night was still the same as when he had first arrived at this castle.

That was one night Deidara would loathe to remember for the rest of his life, however long or short it would be.Well, Deidara expected his life to be short. That was the way life for a shinobi was; life expectancy was not very high. If the nin happened to defect from his village, his or her life expectancy dropped significantly. They were lucky to last even the first year.

Well, that was life. It sucked, monstrously. Deidara stared at the door again. There were holes, as well as scratches, from his various weapons during 'target practice.' He would see what he could do about figuring his way out of this seclusion in order to wreak havoc upon the world of this school. Whatever that way of promoting hell in the school was, he would find it very quickly.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, sorry it took so long and is really really short. I've been swamped with homework so I haven't had the chance to write much. However, I am still working on stories. I also apologize for lack of content which I realize is in there. I promise the next chapter will not follow this chapter's set up. Thank you for reading and putting up with my slowness. Continue checking my bio page for updates on the status of stories. Thank you! 


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Yes, I know, it's short. But at least I updated. I promise the next chapter will be longer!

Chapter 8:

"_Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear."_

_-_MARK TWAIN(1835 – 1910)

Sasori, Kisame, and Itachi were sitting in silence. It was daylight. The villagers had begun to search the hills. They had to move. Unfortunately for them, Sasori had destroyed the only available cave for hiding. However, it had had its downsides. For instance, it was too close to the relatively tiny village of…whatever it was named.

The group had moved farther away to avoid detection. Now that they were certain Deidara was not present in the village, their next stop was the towering castle surrounded by the large black lake. Sasori's temper had not improved with the presence of Kisame and Itachi. The Uchiha brooded constantly, but Kisame was alright most of the time. However, Deidara somehow managed to brighten up the place with his unusual cheeriness. No matter how insane it was.

_"Should we start checking the castle grounds today?" _asked Kisame. Sasori and Itachi observed Kisame blankly. The former mist nin glanced at his partner who in turn looked at Sasori. The hitokugutsu shook his head. After all, he had been there longer than the other too.

_"I'll send a puppet onto the grounds,"_ announced Sasori in a heavy voice. _"The grounds are infested with kids the entire day. Not that any of them are very observant, but we can't take any chances."_ His comrades nodded their assent. From the little time they had spent in this strange country, it had become tantalizingly obvious that these people were not all they seemed to be.

* * *

Harry made his way numbly up the stairs to Dumbledore's office that evening. He was going to see if he could take Deidara out of the room. How much damage could one shinobi do especially if he was being watched carefully? Hermione, Ron, and himself had discussed that matter the entirety of the previous evening and late into the night. 

At first, he and Ron had been against letting him out. After seeing what Deidara had done to the door out of boredom, he was loathe to see what he would do if let out of the room into the school. Some idiot, most likely Malfoy, would successfully make enemies with Deidara in a matter of thirty seconds or less. Not that Harry and Ron would mind watching the little ferret get pounded into a bloody pulp by an insane shinobi, but that would also mean Malfoy would die. They may have hated the brat, but he didn't deserve to die.

He looked at the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office for a moment remembering Hermione's argument. Her voice seemed to drift back to him out of some distant memory.

_'I'm afraid of what he could do as well, but we can't just leave him there to go stir crazy. The next thing we would know is an explosion…'_

Harry did not necessarily like admitting to Hermione in this situation that she was right. The look in Deidara's eyes reminded him too much of Bellatrix Lestrange, but far worse. Well, Dumbledore had said he was insane.

"Are you just going to stand there staring at me, or do you want something?" the gargoyle asked Harry pulling him out of his thoughts in an irritated tone.

"Oh…right…sorry, cockroach cluster," Harry replied quickly as the gargoyle leaped aside. Luckily, Dumbledore was still there. Silently he walked up the staircase to his mentor's eccentric office. He knocked and Dumbledore's voice admitted him entrance.

"Oh, Harry, my boy," greeted Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. "Can I help you with something?"

Harry looked a bit reluctant to reply. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, fingers entwined in front of him. It looked as though he could wait patiently through a storm. He shifted under his mentor's scrutinizing gaze. "Well, we would like to let Deidara out of that room so he would walk around the castle with us during the day."

Dumbledore looked a little surprised. "May I ask what brought this on, Harry?"

Harry looked at him for a few moments before he chose to spoke again, picking his words carefully. Dumbledore had already warned him Deidara was dangerous, and Harry was not about to argue with that. Nor was Hermione. "Well, Hermione and I think he'll go stir crazy and cause serious damage if he's left alone in that room before he decides to talk."

The headmaster raised his eyebrows, a thoughtful look on his face. Well, he had said he was free to roam around the castle once his wounds were healed. "I will send Madam Pomfrey to see him, and if she gives the go ahead, you may take him out of the room during your free period. You will have to escort him around the school for the rest of the day while he joins you in classes. I do not want him left anywhere by himself until he tells us what happened to him."

Harry was silent for a moment as he absorbed this information. Well, Deidara seemed fine. He wasn't exactly an invalid. "Alright, but sir, what do you mean he won't tell you what happened?"

Dumbledore shook his head in confirmation. The shinobi would probably never tell him what happened. And that was just a little disconcerting.

* * *

Harry was pleased, as was Hermione. Madame Pomfrey had given Deidara the go ahead, but he didn't know it yet. The two were hoping to surprise him even if shinobi didn't really like surprises. They were going to retrieve him from his room during after lunch and then take him back to the Gryffindor Common Room for their free period. They were already running through options of keeping him away from curious students. He would most likely go berserk. Little did they know, Deidara was well aware of how he would treat the students. 


	10. IMPORTANT NOTICE

A/N: I'm sorry everyone. My dinosaur of a computer finally kicked the bucket. So basically, I lost every single document on my computer. And I mean, every last one. All of my stories are gone. And I have to rewrite all of them. Even the chapters I had started to write. That means it's going to take me a very long time to update anything as I try to get everything back. Sorry.


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